The Cost and Capital Required to Start a Business.In many countries the cost of procedures and the minimum capital required to start a business are so high that setting up a firm legally is all but impossible for most entrepreneurs. In Angola, for instance, the cost of starting a business is almost 450 percent of income per capita, and the minimum capital required is close to 500 percent.On the globe, countries are removed from their actual geographic location and positioned on a grid. Along the black longitude line, countries are arranged according to the cost required to start a business; the cost, as a percentage of income per capita, increases from north to south. Along the red latitude line, countries are arranged according to the capital required to start a business; the capital, as a percentage of income per capita, increases from west to east. (For some very large countries, the exact position on the grid is indicated by a bright dot.) The farther north and west a country appears on the grid, the more affordable it is to start a business.